The aim of this research is to study long-chain fatty acid turnover and oxidation using stable, non-radioactive [1,2,3,4-13C4] palmitic acid in patients with chronic uremia before starting dialysis. The hypothesis is that patients with chronic renal failure have abnormal long-chain fatty acid metabolism and possibly a disturbance in fatty acid oxidation which is responsible for the development of hypertriglyceridemia in chronic uremia. It is anticipated that data obtained from such studies will assist us to dissect the abnormalities in long-chain fatty acid metabolism in chronic uremia and will shed light on the pathogenesis of the hypertriglyceridemia in this disease. Additionally, we plan to use carnitine as a therapeutic agent to treat the hypertriglyceridemia and determine the changes in the kinetic measurements as a measure of carnitine action. Six subjects have been studied; no data has been analyzed.